Organizations depend on having ready access to their data. Such data may be in the form of databases, computer programs, and files and may include media (e.g., video or audio), images, clinical studies, financial records, user accounts, publications, and the like. The quantity of data that is generated each day by an organization is immense. Data, however, can be lost in a variety of ways such as through disasters and catastrophes (e.g., fires or flooding), media failures (e.g., disk crash), computer viruses, accidental deletion, and so forth. Thus, it is important that the data be backed up. Backing up data is a key function of many organizations.
Some application programs include backup (and recovery) functions for the content generated or managed by the application. Users of the applications may prefer to perform backups using these built-in tools of the application—rather than using a separate backup program—because they may be more familiar with the application as compared to a separate backup program. The separate backup program, however, may offer features that are unavailable in the application.
One example of a feature that the application may not provide includes de-duplication services. De-duplication is a technique for eliminating duplicate copies of data. Data de-duplication is desirable because it helps to conserve computing resources such as by reducing the quantity of data that is stored and managed.
Thus, there is a need to provide access to backup services such as de-duplication when backups are performed through a separate application.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions. EMC, Data Domain, Data Domain Restorer, and Data Domain Boost are trademarks of EMC Corporation.